


let's get out of this town

by IWasMeantToFeel



Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-12 23:56:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4499724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IWasMeantToFeel/pseuds/IWasMeantToFeel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>the synth family leave the Hawkins house. Mattie runs with them, and her relationship with Leo becomes something new entirely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ottermo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ottermo/gifts).



> [A/N] Begins S1E7. It's slightly AU because I'm pretending the ending of the episode never happened and the synths just left as they had planned to. I thought of this fic idea because Mattie kept asking whether they were going to leave and also she was standing by them when the Hawkins parents confronted the synths so I feel like she's on their side. This was requested by sooo many anons on my Tumblr, as EVERYONE seems to be in love with Leotilda :') You can follow my Tumblr if you want, it's i-was-meant-to-feel. Enjoy! MULTICHAPTER BTW YAY :D
> 
> Also, an anon prompted this on Tumblr... But it was AFTER I started writing it? They're obviously psychic...
> 
> ALSO:  
> I haven't got an editor so all mistakes are my own.
> 
> • I don't own Humans, which is kinda crap. But that's the way life is. •

"It's okay. We'll go," Mia says, and Mattie feels her heart drop in her chest. She knew it was coming, so she can't figure out where this sudden pain comes from. Mia, the person who, in some ways, brought their family together. Max, the smiling synth whose fate she'll probably never know. Niska and Fred, who make her siblings smile so much... and Leo. Leo.

Leo slams his laptop lid down. "I'm getting my things," he says, and the anger in his voice is obvious. He leaves the room. A silence follows. Suddenly Sophie peeks her head around the door.

"What's happening, Mummy?"

"They're leaving, Soph. Say goodbye to Mia."

"No!" Sophie half-shrieks. "No no no! I want them to stay. I love them."

Mattie glances at her parents, to see if there are any signs of giving in on their faces, but her father looks indifferent and her mother's expression is cold as stone. She grits her teeth.

"Sophie, say goodbye, or don't say goodbye, it's up to you. They're going," Joe says firmly.

"I don't see why it's up to you," Mattie snaps, the words tumbling out of her mouth full of venom. "In fact, I don't see why you think you have a say in this family at all, after what you did."

"Mattie..." Mia crosses the distance between them and places a restraining hand on her arm. "Mattie, don't. It's alright."

"It's not alright." Mattie turns away from her parents to face her. "I'll miss you." Her face crumples slightly. What is her life going to be without them, after all?

"Bye bye, Mia," Sophie says sadly. She runs across the room and into the synth's open arms. Mattie glances over Mia's shoulder, and sees Niska, who looks torn.

"Say goodbye to Niska too, Soph," she tells the child.

"Mattie!" Joe says.

"Go on, Soph." She ignores him. 

Sophie runs to Niska and wraps her small arms around the blonde. "Goodbye, Niska. It was nice to meet you."

Niska's lips are set in a tight line. Mattie guesses that if it were possible for her to cry, she would be crying right now.

Leo comes back into the room. "We're ready to go," he announces. "We'll have to take turns carrying Maxie. Me and Fred will go first." He heaves out a worldweary sigh. Mia smiles, wryly, sympathetically. Mattie realises that this is her last chance. It's now or never.

"I'm going with them," she says. "I packed a bag." Everyone stops and looks at her. She feels severely uncomfortable under all of their eyes.

"You did what?" Laura says.

"I packed a bag. I want to go."

"That's not your choice to make!" her mother says, distraught.

"I'm an adult, aren't I? It's not as though I haven't thought about it!"

"Mattie, we're your parents."

"You are. I'm not sure about him." She gestures to Joe with disgust.

"Mattie, don't be like this," he pleads. "Is this about what I did?"

"Partly. But the fact is, I'm... happier with them than I am here."

"It's about him then, isn't it?" Joe says, an unpleasant tone lingering in his voice.

"Who?" Mattie says wearily.

"That man. Leo."

Mattie glances over at Leo. His surprised face mirrors hers.

"I have no idea what you think you know, but there's nothing going on there. Nothing." She can't work out why the words are thick on her tongue, why it feels like lying. Nothing is going on. "I'm not running away over a crush, if that's what you're thinking."

"What about Sophie, Toby?" Laura says, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Mum, this isn't about how I feel about you, or anyone else. It just... feels right."

"What about school, your A levels?" Laura protests desperately.

"It's basically the Christmas holidays," Mattie says. "They're long."

"We're not going to be able to stop you, are we?" Joe finally says.

"No," she replies. "You're not."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N] I absolutely love getting comments from you, they really make me smile. So don't stop :) I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm not sure how long this fic is going to be, I'm guessing around 10 chapters!  
> Prepare for much Leo and Niska cuteness in this chapter ;)

Mattie wasn't expecting being on the run to be easy. But she also wasn't expecting it to be anywhere near this hard. They've been walking for days, taking turns carrying Max. Her feet are blistered. All her clothes are dirty. And now, to top off the day, she's started her period and has nothing with her. In a brief moment of forgetfulness she considered asking Mia, but then she remembered that the caring, motherly woman is not human. So that didn't help. She wants to ask, but Leo's the leader so it'd have to go through him, and she feels awkward. Actually, she feels weak. She honestly did come to help (and maybe just a little bit because she couldn't imagine being without them) but she's fully aware that she's just slowing them down. She needs to eat and drink, she needs to sleep, she needs to use the toilet and brush her teeth and wash... and now, she needs to sort out this... situation. All the things which synths have been cleverly designed without. She feels useless, and for the first time in a while, she wants to sit down and cry. 

She's walking beside Niska, through some thick woodland, when the blonde seems to sense her discontent. Mattie feels her look at her, and she avoids her eyes, because she's scared of how much her own would give away.

"Leo, can we stop? I'm low on charge," Niska calls suddenly, to the front of the line, where Mia and Leo have Max's immobile body supported between them. Mattie feels a surge of gratitude at this.

Leo stops. "Nis, you charged two hours ago," he says, looking worried. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah... it's just, walking uphill. It runs my battery down." Mattie can hear in her voice that she's blatantly lying, and she guessed the others can too. Oh well. At least it will mean that they can stop.

"We'll rest in ten minutes. I think there's a garage, by the side of the road. Mattie can go in, get some food. The rest of us will stay outside. Alright, Mattie?" Leo looks to her for confirmation.

"Thank you, that would be good," she smiles. It's nice that he always consults her first.

They keep moving.

"Thank you, Niska," Mattie says quietly to the blonde beside her.

Niska shakes her head. "It's nothing. I like having you here. We all do."

Mattie nods. "Thank you for that. Sometimes I feel a bit useless."

"Nobody's useless," Niska tells her. "Definitely not you."

Mattie feels a lump in her throat at her kindness, and swallows back tears. It must be almost a week since she last saw her family, and she misses them. Misses physical contact, a warm bed, running water. But she still can't bring herself to think that this was a mistake.

They keep walking through the damp woodland, moss and wet twigs crunching beneath their feet. They must be getting closer to a road, because every so often the roar of an engine breaks the tranquil silence. Ten minutes later, Leo calls for them to stop.

"Just through those trees," he points out to Mattie, "there should be a layby, and a garage. We'll wait for you here."

"Thank you. I'll be five minutes."

"Take your time," Mia smiles understandingly.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Niska asks.

"Bad idea," Mattie says. "I'll be in and out, don't worry."

The blonde nods. 

"Mattie?" Leo says. "Can you grab some food for me too? I'm running low."

"Course." Mattie leaves the others behind, and traipses through the thick undergrowth until she can see the the back of a building. As she draws around towards the front, she can see two rusty petrol pumps, a small outbuilding, and a shop. The lights are off, and it looks completely abandoned. She tries the shop door anyway, and to her surprise it opens, with the jingle of a bell.

"Hello?" she calls out, to the stacked shelves and empty counter, but no one comes. She scans around the shop. Is there anything to stop her taking what she needs? She might run out of money later - it's a good opportunity. "Is anyone here?" she shouts again, for good measure, but her voice just echoes around with no reply. She unzips her bag, and grabs things off the shelves as quickly as possible. Crackers. Dried fruit and nuts. Water. Tampax and pads, enough for two months. She feels adrenalin rush around her body. She's stealing. It feels wrong... but it also makes her feel alive. As soon as she's got what she needs, she ducks into the toilet. It's freezing cold, damp and dark in there, and she's as quick as possible. She glances at her watch as she comes out. Five minutes. She slips out of the door, cringing at the sound of the exit bell, and rejoins the others.

Hours later, when the winter night has fallen and it's freezing cold, they set up camp, with one large tent and a few blankets. Mattie and Leo shudder with cold; the synths are impervious. Mia wraps herself around Leo, turning her body heating on.

"Mia, you'll run your battery down," Leo says, even as he relaxes against her.

"Don't want you to end up freezing to death, after all we've been through," the synth laughs. "Niska, take Mattie. She must be so cold."

"It's okay," Mattie attempts to say, but Niska has already climbed under her blanket. Her body gives off warmth, like a radiator, and Mattie sighs with relief. She doesn't know why the synth is being so nice to her. Maybe it's because of Sophie. Her thoughts tail off as the warmth gradually sends her to sleep.

She wakes later, and immediately knows why. She feels sick, and her stomach is cramped. She looks around in the half dark. The synths are on power saving mode. Leo's asleep. She sneaks out of the tent with her supplies, and sorts herself out, with a sigh of annoyance. As she creeps back in, shivering, she catches sight of a glinting eye. 

Leo's awake. Damn it.

He sits up. "Why didn't you tell me?" he murmurs, nodding towards her open bag, where the box of Tampax is painfully obvious. 

Mattie feels her face heat up with a deep blush, and is suddenly very glad for the dark. "It's awkward," she mutters.

"No, it's not. It's a life process," Leo tells her. She almost laughs at how solemn he sounds.

"Okay. Thank you."

It's silent for a second, as Mattie tries to cross the tent without disturbing anyone else. As she settles back down next to Niska, Leo says something, quietly.

"What?" she asks.

"I just... you know everything about me, and I hardly know anything about you," he says.

"I didn't think you'd want to know anything," she sighs. "I'm hardly interesting."

"You're the most interesting girl I've ever met," he tells her earnestly. Mattie blushes again, for a different reason this time. A few guys have paid her compliments, but not one of them has said it like that, and not one of them has made her feel like this, either.

"You're pretty interesting yourself," she replies. Leo scoffs at that, and then they fall silent.

"Does it... uh.. does it hurt?" he says suddenly.

Stunned, Mattie blushes even more. "Oh my god, we are not talking about this, Leo!"

"Alright, okay!" He puts his hands up in surrender, and Mattie's heart warms at how cute that is. Most guys will avoid the subject of periods at all costs, but here he is, asking if she's in pain.

"It doesn't hurt," she says softly into the dark. She thinks he's gone to sleep, but then his eyes open, and he whispers,

"Good."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N] I love your feedback on this, I really really do. It's amazing how this tiny community of people writing Humans fanfics is all pulling together and being so supportive to each other. Thank you! On with the story...

It should be Mattie's turn to help carry Max now. Everyone else has already taken at least two turns, but they seem to have forgotten about her. They're currently resting at the foot of a huge oak tree in the middle of the (damp) British woodland, blinking the spitting rain out of their eyes. Leo suggests that they keep going.

"Not long now," he says, and Mattie's spirits are raised. He takes one of Max's arms and Fred goes to take the other, but Mattie stops him.

"I'll do it," she says firmly.

Fred looks confused. "It's okay, Mattie, I can manage."

"I know you can. But it doesn't seem fair on you that I'm doing nothing."

"You're not doing nothing, you've been raising morale all morning," Mia laughs, and Mattie has to smile. She'd spent the morning telling old family stories about funny things that had happened on their holidays, and the action had made her feel a little bit closer to home.

"That's just talking," she shrugs. "I want to actually do something."

"I don't see why she shouldn't," Niska remarks, coming to her rescue. "She's just as capable as you are."

Mattie smiles at that.

"Okay," Leo says, giving in. "Mattie, give your bag to Niska. We'll carry on."

Mattie does as she's told, and then slips her arms under Max's and picks up one side of his body. He's much heavier than he looks. She tries not to let it show. Leo takes the other side and they carry him, limp and lifeless, between them. Mattie can't help but feel weird about it. Max is stone cold, but other than that he feels like a human. A dead one. She doesn't like it. But she was the one who asked to carry him, so she'd better deal with it.

They've only walked for a few minutes, the other a little further behind them so that they can keep watch for danger, when Mattie realises something.

"Leo?"

He seems to jerk into consciousness out of some faraway daydream, and then turns to face her. She knows it's incredibly cliché, but her heart skips a beat whenever he looks at her. Because she's certain that no one has ever looked at her like that before, and she has absolutely no clue what it means.

"Yes, Mattie?"

"Where are we going?"

"Haven't I told you?" he asks.

"No..."

He pauses, trying to recollect. "I'm sorry about that. For some reason I thought I had. I wouldn't have let you come this far without knowing your destination otherwise."

She smiles at this. He's thoughtful in everything. "It's okay."

"We're going to the house where we used to live as a family. It's not too far from here, but it's not on any map and few people know of it, since it's in the middle of nowhere. As far as I know it's unoccupied. We'll be safe there."

"Your childhood home?" she asks. She remembers seeing it in his memories. It looked grand, but comfortable enough... though she can't help but think that they'll feel uneasy there. It doesn't exactly contain entirely good memories for the synths.

"Yes. It's the only place we can go right now. Anywhere else would be too dangerous for us."

"Do you want to go?" she asks gently.

"Yes. No. I don't know. It's not like I have a choice."

"But if you did, would you be going there right now?"

"I really don't know." He sighs tiredly, and readjusts his grip on Max.

"When we get there, I'll help you fix him," Mattie tells him, nodding towards the inanimate figure. "I have some ideas."

Leo shakes his head. "He's gone, Mattie."

"You can't say that when you haven't tried everything. You can't just give him up when there could be hundreds more possibilities."

"I don't want to have to go through the hope and the downfall again and again," Leo admits. "It hurts. It hurts to see him smile in such a familiar way when the Max I know isn't actually present."

"I know," Mattie says sympathetically. "But you don't have to be there if you don't want to. I'll work on it on my own. I'll bring him back."

"That's too much responsibility for someone as young as you," Leo says. Mattie can't help but feel a little patronised - something she's never felt around Leo before.

"You have no idea about how much I can take, okay Leo? I'm not weak."

He softens. "I know you're not. I just don't want you to feel like it's your fault, if he doesn't come back."

"I won't," Mattie tells him. They continue to walk in silence. She has a thousand things on the tip of her tongue, but she doesn't really know what to say to him, just like always. Instead she steal glances at him, taking in the pronounced bridge of his nose, the sharp, but still somehow soft line of his jaw, his lips... Mattie, stop! Jesus.

It ends up being him who speaks first. "I told you I wanted to know more about you..."

"And I said there wasn't much to know," she smirks, but he's serious.

"I mean it. You've done so much for us, and yet here we are, still almost strangers."

She doesn't like that he refers to her as a stranger. She feels that she's more than that - she wants to be more than that - but she realises now that he really doesn't know that much about her. She sighs in resignation. "What do you want to know?"

Leo grins victoriously, and she feels herself swell with pride that she put that smile on his face? Wait, what? Stop it.

"I want to know the basics first."

"Okay?"

"I'm going to quiz you," he tells her.

"Oh god, it's like primary school all over again," she laughs. "Alright, quiz me."

"Okay." He bites his bottom lip, thinking, and it strikes Mattie as quite an adorable gesture. It makes her stomach flutter. "Okay, what's your favourite colour?"

"Come on, Leo, you can do better than that," she laughs.

"I'm starting from the bottom," he tells her. "Answer the question."

"Dark red. Not bright red."

"Favourite song?"

"500 Miles," she replies swiftly.

"Never heard of it," he comments with a smile. "I wasn't expecting to either. Favourite food?"

"Crystallised ginger?"

"Crystallised ginger as in the cooking ingredient?"

"Crystallised ginger as in the most delicious thing in the world," she says firmly.

"I can think of plenty of things that would be a lot more delicious than crystallised ginger," he comments, and Mattie blushes as soon as the words have left his mouth. He shows no sign of noticing the double meaning, so she keeps quiet.

"Favourite sound?"

"Rain falling."

"You must be having the time of your life then," he grins, gesturing to the sodden woodland.

"Not this kind of rain. Heavy, wet rain, drumming onto a roof. Or pouring rain on water."

He smiles, and she can tell that he's imagining it. She closes her eyes too, and imagines the pouring rain all around them, drenching their hair and clothes and running in rivulets down their faces, pushing them closer and closer together until they - Her eyes snap open. Where the hell is all this coming from? She flushes.

"Are you okay?" he asks easily.

"Fine," she replies. Her voice is huskier than usual. "Next question."

"Favourite smell?"

They continue this until his repertoire of 'basic questions' has been exhausted and their mouths are dry from talking, and they've covered most of the distance left on their journey to the old house. Distracted, Mattie hasn't even noticed how heavy Max's body is between them.

"Next time," she promises Leo, "it's your turn."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N] I'm sorry that there's nothing but cuteness in this story yet. I know that it would probably be more interesting if there was some angst or element of danger, but my babies have been through a lot and I don't want to do that... just yet :')

It's pitch dark when they reach the house, and Mattie is pretty much falling asleep on her feet. Leo is stumbling too, growing exhausted, and Mattie knows that he and the others don't have much power. Just as they reach the overgrown driveway, Mia announces,

"5%."

Leo glances over at her worriedly. "Can you make it to the house?"

Mattie can just make out the crumbling ivy-covered chimneys that rise up above the leaning trees. It must only be five minutes, at most.

"I'll try," Mia says, and then stops speaking, trying to conserve power.

They push on. Mattie parts curtains of ivy and bends the flexible branches of saplings to allow the others through. Her shoulders and back ache from the weight of her rucksack, and she concentrates on putting one foot in front of the other. They reach the grand front door, with the huge stone steps leading up to it. Mattie's about to start pushing the weeds and creepers aside here too, but Leo lays a hand on her arm to stop her.

"We can't go through the front door. If we leave it looking so overgrown, it will ward anyone off, make them think there's no one here."

Mattie nods. "Good thinking." She notices that he doesn't remove his hand from her arm, just slides it down a little further, so that they're almost linking fingers, but not quite. His fingertips are warm and tingling against her palm. She shakes herself out of her daze.

"Let's go by the cellar," Niska says resolutely, slightly hunching under the weight of Mia's almost limp body. "No one will ever find that entrance."

The others seem to agree. Fred is carrying Max single-handedly, his knees looking shaky. They're all in need of rest. Leo leads the way, and Mattie immediately misses the contact. She distracts herself from that annoying fact by marvelling at the size of the building, and imagines how it must have looked back then, when the roses were flourishing instead of drooping, and the house stood tall and proud, instead of crumbling under the weight of the foliage. She remembers how it looked in Leo's memories - like a fairytale castle - and she wonders how it makes him feel, to see it like this.

Mattie almost trips down the muddy slope leading to the cellar. They're right at the back of the house, and face a wall that seemingly holds nothing but yet another curtain of ivy. Leo pushes that aside too, carefully, and there's a tiny door, scarcely big enough for Mattie, and she's not exactly tall. The handle almost comes away in his hand when he first tries it, but then something clicks inside and it creaks open, flakes of rust floating down from its hinges. They somehow cram themselves inside and close it behind them, finding themselves in even deeper darkness than outside. The room smells musty; stale air. Leo feels along the wall, presumably looking for a light switch.

"Won't the electricity be switched off?" Mattie asks, with a sinking feeling. "How will you charge?"

"Our father set the house up to run on solar and wind power," Niska explains. "He was ahead of his time in many ways."

"Ah!" Leo exclaims, and a light blinks on. Mattie's surprised by what she sees. She was expecting dust and nothing more - perhaps some spiders and broken furniture - but it's nothing like that. It's almost homely, complete with knock-off Afghan rugs, some chairs and coffee tables, a sofa, lamps... chargers. Niska heaves Mia over to one of these and hastily plugs her in.

"Our father made us a safe room, just in case anything happened," Fred tells Mattie in response to her incredulous look.

"Good foresight," Niska remarks dryly. "I suppose he must have known something like this would occur at some point." There's almost an angry look on her face at that. Mattie guesses she's thinking about how their father, their creator, completely abandoned them to the dangers of the human world, having known full way that they would be targets. Feeling that they're probably good enough friends by now for Niska not to push her away, Mattie touches the blonde's arm in what she hopes is a comforting way. She's rewarded with a smile.

Leo switches on a heater. It wheezes a little, then comes to life, dispelling the cold air. The synths settle themselves at various charging points, for the remainder of the night. Mia leans up against a wall, Niska sits beside her. Fred occupies a straight-backed chair in the corner. Leo, who of course would find it uncomfortable on the floor all night (despite his synth brain, he has a human body), slumps on the only sofa. Max lies on a rug. He's fully charged, just switched off until they can work out what to do. Until Mattie can work out what to do. She hovers awkwardly, unsure. This isn't her house. She's never been here. She can't treat it as her own as they do, can't try to make do with it as she has with their other hideouts. She feels like a guest.

"May I...?" she asks Leo, referring to the sofa, which is the only place she could imagine being comfortable sleeping.

He smiles wearily at her, his eyes drooping with sleepiness. "Of course." 

He looks about fourteen years old, and Mattie's heart warms. He's only a few years her senior, but he has the wrinkles and tired demeanour of an adult who's close to giving up. He's been through so much. It's this thought which causes her, instead of leaning on the other arm of the sofa, to take her blanket and curl up next to him. She can tell he's surprised, and the confusion that's practically radiating off him only grows as she throws her blanket over the both of them and leans into him, her head on his shoulder and her hair tickling his skin. She tries to relax, but she can hear both of their hearts beating loudly, almost in unison. The temptation to touch him, the need for more contact, grows within her. Underneath the blanket, her hand strokes his thigh, shyly at first, but then growing more confident. She doesn't know why, but the feel of the denim under her fingertips makes her feel powerful. The fact that she's soothing him, relaxing him; the fact that it's her actions which cause him to give a little sleepy mumble and bury his face in her hair... That alone makes her feel useful and wanted. It makes her feel like she matters to him. Like they're far more than just strangers now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N] Thank you to everyone who's reading this and commenting! Enjoy the chapter - I know it's short, but I wanted to post something xxx

When Mattie wakes up, she's stiff and achy, and her head is resting on something rough. She blinks her eyes open and sees black denim. And then sees legs. Fantastic. She's been asleep with her head in Leo's lap. Carefully, so she doesn't disturb him, she wriggles out of the position to sit up. Leo is fast asleep, his face open and relaxed, his lips almost smiling. He sighs a little, and she looks away. She has no idea what time it is, since there's no natural light in the cellar. Her phone (blocked, so no one can access their location) is in her bag on the floor. She drapes the blanket over him, and then drops to her knees in search of it. The zip on her bag seems to make a huge noise in the silence of the room. She looks around... And there it is, that upbeat musical noise which happens when synths wake up, and she scans the row of them to work out who it was. Mia's eyes are open and glinting in the dark.

"Good morning, Mattie," she says, her volume lowered to almost a whisper.

"Morning," she smiles back.

"Good sleep?" she asks good-naturedly.

Mattie blushes, wondering how much of that she'd seen. "Yeah, thanks." She doesn't return the pleasantry - that would just be awkward.

"Mattie," Mia says, with a hint of importance in her voice. It makes Mattie stop dragging her fingers through her tangled hair and look at her face. She has such a kind, motherly look that it physically hurts.

"Yeah?"

"Is there something going on between you and Leo?"

Mattie's immediate response it's to protect, repel. "No, of course not!" But then she remembers that it's Mia who's talking. Mia who deserves answers. Mia who isn't asking to have something to use against her. Mia, who's currently looking at her with a raised eyebrow, as it to say, 'You really think I'm going to believe that?' So Mattie revises her words. "Maybe? I... I sort of hope there is."

"Sort of?" Mia says softly, but firmly. She wants a straight answer. 

Mattie changes her words again, lowering her voice. "I hope there is. But I don't know."

"Do you know that I've never seen Leo look less... on edge, than when he's with you. He seems to forget all those painful memories when you're around him."

"Really?"

"Yes. You'd be good for him. But you have to realise, Mattie, physically, he's got a few years on you, but mentally... He's old, he's worried, he's protective. He may lose that around you sometimes, but it'll always be there."

"I know." Mattie looks over at the subject of their conversation. A frown creases his forehead, and his fingers grip the blanket, searching for something - someone - that is no longer there. "I know."

Mia gives her a sympathetic look, then says something completely unexpected.

"Laura texted me."

Mattie knows that her shock registers on her face, but Mia misinterprets it.

"Don't worry, they won't be able to track my phone. You blocked it, remember."

"I know, but... Why you? She hasn't texted me. No one has, not even Toby." She feels a lump rise in her throat at that. Just like always with the older sister younger brother dynamic, they squabbled and shouted and got on each other's nerves a lot, but at the end of the day she'd thought they had a really good bond. Evidently she'd thought wrong.

"They haven't texted you?" Mia asks, shocked.

"No," Mattie says miserably.

"But look - read what your mother sent me!" 

She hands the phone over, and after Mattie's eyes adjust to the brightness of the screen, she reads,

'Hello Mia.  
I'm sorry that I haven't contacted you sooner. I hope you're okay. I'm thinking of you. And Sophie misses you very much.  
Mattie isn't answering our texts. Is she with you? Is she okay? Please let me know.  
Be safe.  
Laura xx'

"What texts?" Mattie asks. "I haven't got any." So much of her mother comes through in what she's written, it's almost as though she's standing her with her. Not for the first time, she wishes she was, even if Laura doesn't want anything to do with her anymore.

"Perhaps you could check again?" Mia suggests.

Mattie pulls out her phone. Her inbox is empty, except for something from Harun asking where she is and does she want to go for a smoke later, received nearly two weeks ago. She hasn't replied to that. She notices that her service bar is empty, wonders if that has something to do with it. She hastily connects to a different service provider. Still nothing. And then suddenly, the device starts to vibrate over and over, messages streaming in in a flood, from her mum, from Toby, from curious friends, from Harun again, even from her dad. When the onslaught has finished, she has 43 unread messages. She almost laughs in relief.

"I guess they didn't abandon you, after all," Mia says with a smile.

Once Mattie has sorted through and replied to them, her phone screen reads 9:30 AM. She quickly send off a reply to Harun's slightly-too-clingy-boyfriend-like inquiries: 

'Yes, I'm fine. Gone away for a bit with some friends. Have a good Xmas holiday.' 

She hopes that will suffice, despite the fact that his side of the conversation ends in three Xs and hers none.

She really regrets kissing him now, but she tries to put him out of her mind and focus on the task in hand - fixing Max.

**Author's Note:**

> (to be continued...)


End file.
